Muggles do
by HCH
Summary: My first fanfic about muggle, Charity halfhill and how she tries to keep her friend Joe from kidnapping innocent people he thinks are aliens, except they aren't exactly normal people are they? SSOFC Added fifth chapter!
1. Default Chapter

Charity groaned aloud as she read the name and number off her cell phone's screen. The vibrant ringing of the phone beat out the melody to  
  
Mozart as she debated whether to answer the call. It was Joe, again.   
  
He has probably gotten pictures of Bigfoot and cannot wait to get verification. Sighing to herself, Charity pushed the talk button and held the phone to her ear.  
  
"Aliens!"  
  
Charity held the phone a few inches away from her ear and snorted in disgust. She could hear him launching into one of his verbal frenzies.  
  
"What is it this time, Joe?" Charity interrupted him.  
  
"Aliens, Char, aliens! They appeared right in the middle of the living room, well, actually, I think they came out of the fireplace, but this is huge! You have gotta' come over, Char. I'm going to need your help with this,"  
  
Charity reached to pinch the bridge of her nose. He was going to need her help all right...right to the doctor's office for an increase in his medication.  
  
"Calm down, Joe. Remember to breath, you're going to start hyperventilating," Charity said, reminding herself to breath as well.  
  
"Calm Down! Calm Down! I can't calm down, they're here right now," Joe's tinny voice screamed at her.   
  
"Joe, slow down. Tell me can you see them right now?" She asked him softly.  
  
"Well, yea. I've got some of them tied up actually."  
  
The claxon of alarm bells went off inside Charity's head. Oh no no no! The mental image of a group of girl scouts knocking on Joe's door to sell cookies and naturally being mistaken for beings from another planet flew into Charity's mind. At least natural for Joe anyway.  
  
"Joe, I'm coming right over." Charity was already outside of her house and unlocking the rust bucket of a truck she owned as she spoke.   
  
"Good and Char, hurry."  
  
Charity turned off the phone and shoved it into her purse. Joe finally did it. He has managed to kidnap someone and now there is nothing I can do to keep them from locking him up in some institute or worse they'll shove him into some jail cell with a big guy named "Bubba"  
  
The rusty truck sped down the driveway into the road. Its rear bumper hanging perilously close to the ground as Charity steadily broke the speed limit in higher and higher increments. Scary scenarios played themselves out in her head as she drove. Many of them involving a police shoot out and ending with Joe dead.   
  
The sun was setting behind Joe's old farmhouse when Charity pulled into the long driveway. It looked like the orange-yellow yolk of an egg trying to break and seep into the endless fields of corn. The farmhouse itself was white and as stolid as it always seemed. Joe's gray van sat in front of the porch and Joe himself was waiting for her. Charity's breath froze when she saw that he had the old rifle his father gave him one Christmas many years ago. Joe waved a look of happy relief on his face.  
  
Charity turned off the truck and grabbed her purse. Inside was a can of pepper spray she could use on him if worse came to worst. Other than that, there was nothing she could do but try to talk him down.   
  
"After a while, I started to think you didn't believe me and weren't going to come," Joe said, walking up to her.  
  
Charity approached him warily, Joe was her friend but when he was off his medication, there was always cause for caution.  
  
"Of course I'd come. Joe didn't I tell you that I'd always come if you needed help."  
  
Joe's smile faltered. He waved his free hand feebly in a downcast motion. "I know how it looks, Char. I'm not off the meds. These really are aliens."  
  
Charity studied him. Joe seemed calmer now, his appearance was well kept, not disheveled or wild the way it would be when he didn't take his pills.  
  
"All right then, show me." She said quietly.   
  
Joe gave her a weak smile and turned to lead the way into the house. The first thing Charity noticed when she stepped inside the smell of ashes. It seemed to permeate the house. Joe had not turned on any of the lights yet and the interior was getting dark.   
  
He led her to the living room. Here she saw the reason for the smoky smell in the house. It seemed as if something had exploded in the fireplace, spewing burnt logs and ash all over. There were signs of a struggle as well. Furniture was turned upside down and strange gash marks stretched along the walls.   
  
"They were using these like weapons." Joe said pulling what appeared to be four sticks out of his jacket pocket. She held out her hand and Joe hesitated a moment before relinquishing the items. Charity examined one in the fading light.  
  
It was about twelve inches long, black and polished to a high sheen. A disturbing thrill raced through Charity as she caressed the strange object. The base appeared to be a small-carved cylinder at the blunt end, about half an inch wider than the stick itself and Charity could find no seams where it had been attached, only smooth wood. Almost like a wand or something, she thought.   
  
Charity frowned. Your starting to think like Joe there, Char. She carefully put it and the others into her purse, ignoring the longing look Joe gave her.   
  
A sudden muffled whimpering made Charity jump closer to him. "What was that?"  
  
It was Joe's turn to frown at her as if she were crazy. "It was one of them," he said.  
  
"Where?" She whispered wide-eyed.  
  
Joe reached over and flipped on the light switch. He stared pointedly behind her. Charity steeled herself against what she feared she might find before turning around.  
  
Lined up against the wall were four people gagged with masking tape, their arms tied behind their backs, and each one dressed as if they were from medieval times.  
  
Charity stared at the four people in shock. This was it, this was really it. Joe had four strangers tied and gagged in his own living room...and she was an accomplice. Charity shook her head to clear her mind of that particular thought.   
  
The muffled sounds were coming from a redheaded youth to Charity's immediate right. He was looking up at her with a sort of desperate hope, begging her to let them all go free. Another youth, smaller than his companion had wild black hair and glasses. He watched a spot on the floor intently. There was an angry, determined look about him. Beside him an elderly woman with her hair coming loose from it's once tight bun merely looked Charity in the eye firmly. The last person, a man perhaps in his mid to late thirties lay almost exactly at Charity's feet, a black cloak spread out underneath him. His shoulder length black hair hung across the man's face partially concealing his features including a rather large hooked nose.  
  
He appeared to be unconscious, but a dark smattering of blood oozed from his forehead and his skin was alarmingly pale. Charity feared he might be dead.   
  
"That one's been passed out since I first found him," Joe said noticing Charity's direction of interest. "He and another one were the first to appear. I heard a crash coming from in here and came in to investigate. That is when I saw this one fighting with another one. They were using those sticks on each other, beams of light were shooting all over the living room, 'kinda like Star Wars you know,"  
  
"There's another person?" Charity questioned softly.  
  
"Well, he shot that dark one and ran outside. I grabbed my rifle and went out after him," Joe shrugged his shoulders, "but it was like he disappeared. When I came back inside these other ones were here and I just knew, Char, these are aliens."  
  
Charity turned to glare at Joe, "They look like people to me Joe,"  
  
"They're wearing disguises, come on Char, look at the way they're dressed. It's like they ended up in the wrong time period," Joe said.  
  
"So now they're from the future, is that what you're telling me Joe?"   
  
Joe frowned at her again and for a moment, Charity could see the shadow of doubt cross his face. "Well, I don't think they're from the future...but they definitely aren't normal!"  
  
Charity turned to look down at the small group. They did look strange, but certainly not otherworldly.   
  
"Why don't we just ask one of them? There's probably a certainly good explanation for everything."   
  
Joe didn't look like he quite believed her but muttered his consent anyway. Charity gave him a weak smile before turning back to the group. She bent down next to the redhead teenager. Deciding he looked scared enough to rat out Al Capone himself.   
  
"Yeowch!" He cried out as she ripped the duct tape off his mouth. The youth took several deep breaths glancing around the room fearfully. "Please don't hurt us. I just want to go back, please let us go-"  
  
"Slow down; slow down, no one's going to hurt you. We're going to get everything straightened out, okay?" Charity told the boy. She felt weird trying to calm down teenager who was only six or so years younger than she was. When did I become the mature one? Charity thought quietly.  
  
"Yea...eah, ok-okay," He responded.   
  
Charity picked out a British accent from the few words he spoke. Clue one, she thought, aliens from outer space do not sound like Englishmen.  
  
"My name is Charity, this is Joe," she said motioning to where Joe was standing, "Can I ask you what your name is?"   
  
"Uh, it's Ronald...Ron," he said nervously.   
  
"Ron, good...Umm, my friend Joe is a little mixed up-"  
  
"He's crazy." Ron interrupted.  
  
Joe stepped towards the youth in a threatening manner. "Joe!" Charity yelled at him. Joe muttered something about aliens and mind control, but stepped back to his original spot.  
  
She turned once more to the teenager. "Joe is unsure about exactly who you are and how you all came to be in his living room. I was wondering if you could explain."  
  
Ron licked his lips and glanced at the boy next to him, who seemed to have been watching them. He was scowling at Ron.  
  
"We're, uh...we-"  
  
"Are you exchange students or something?" Charity asked.  
  
"Yeah!" Ron pounced on the easy explanation. Charity did not believe him but she was ready to supply the boy with the answer to every question she asked him if it would convince Joe to let these people go.   
  
"You're from England? Are you people theatre students? Is that why you're dressed so strange?"  
  
"Yeah, exchange students, from Britain-" the teenager nodded eagerly, swallowing every spoonful Charity fed him.  
  
Charity sat back on her heels. She motioned to each of the adults. The man had fallen forward from the wall a little and his head lolled about like a rag dolls. Charity sincerely hoped he was not dead.  
  
"...And these two are your?"  
  
"Huh? Uh, my professors! They're my professors," He stated.   
  
Charity smiled at the youth. She stood up and went back to stand in front of Joe. "See Joe, a perfectly reasonable explanation."  
  
"Then why did they show up in my house?" He asked her, his arms folded across his chest.   
  
"We didn't know anyone lived here. It was a mistake!" Ron yelled from behind Charity.   
  
Charity smiled, again. "It was a mistake," she said parroting the boy, "you should really put a fresh coat of paint on the house Joe. People are starting to think it's abandoned."   
  
Joe frowned, that look of self-doubt crossed his face again. Charity almost had him convinced that these were indeed people and not aliens.  
  
"What about the beams of light I saw coming from those stick things?"   
  
Charity didn't miss a beat, "Theatrics, props. They were probably rehearsing the parts for some play and didn't realize anyone lived here." It mattered not that Charity was having trouble believing the story herself, only that she convinced Joe it was true, after that the police could straighten things out. 


	2. Chapter two

The only thing that mattered was convincing Joe that these were indeed people and not aliens.

Charity decided to take advantage of Joe's momentary indecision to further her goal.

"Joe haven't I always helped you out, even when you barely knew what was going on? You know that I would never hurt you or try to trick you," Charity said. _Not unless it's for your own good, though._

Joe frowned at the carpet again_. _The furrows in his brow deepening to to resemble several small canyons on his forehead. He glanced once more at the people lined up against the wall. All were avoiding his gaze save one. Ronald was peering at him hopefully, nodding his head at Joe as if to tell him to believe what Charity was saying.

"Alright fine!" Joe said finally, he picked up his rifle and started out of the room. "You can do this your way Charity, but I still say there's something not quite right about them. I'm going out to look for that other one that disappeared earlier," with that said Joe stalked away.

Charity stared after him, silently hoping that he wouldn't come across some Amish kid during his search and shoot him on sight as an alien. Sometimes she thought she would never be able to lead a normal life if she kept cleaning up after Joe this way.

"Miss,...Charity?" The sound of Ron's voice in the background drew Charity's attention. She turned to face him.

"Well, I guess I'd better untie you guys," She said. Charity bent down next to Ron and started to pull the rope loose from his wrists. "I want you to know that Joe means well most of the time he's just confused."

"He's crazy."

"I know," Charity said quietly, "Which means as soon as I get you all untied you should leave. I don't know if Joe will come back in a better mood or not, but it's best not to hang around. You can call the police when you get back to town if you want," She tugged the last of the rope from his wrists "Are we agreed?" She asked.

Ron nodded at her. His eyes as big around as saucers in his head. Charity smiled at him to set him at ease. "You untie your friend," Charity said motioning to the other youth, "I'll go to your professor."

Charity didn't wait for an answer. She crawled over to the woman and reached to pull the masking tape from her mouth.

"MMMgghh!...ahh, that's much better. Thank you," The woman said. Her accent was much thicker than Ron's and Charity wondered if she was from yet another country besides England.

Charity reached around and quickly undid the rope around her wrists. Once she was freed the older woman rubbed her wrists vigorously to return the circulation to her hands.

"Is he still alive?" She asked.

"Huh?"

"My collegue, is he still alive?" The woman repeated. She spoke much more slowly the second time and look directly into Charity's face.

"Oh! I...I think so," Charity responded, remembering the unconcious professor with an annoying skip in her heartbeat.

"Good," the woman fumbled through her layers of cloth to pull out a small vial of liquid. As far as Charity could discern it was completely clear, water. "Pour the entire vial into his mouth," The woman shoved the vial into Charity's hand.

She looked down at it dumbly. "Quickly girl, a life is at stake!" The woman said urgently and Charity jumped to her task. When she got to the man she realized she was going to need someone's help to hold his head for her. He'd fallen forward a bit more from the wall and his head lolled about on his neck like a rag doll's. Though some of his hair had fallen forward to shield most of his face from her eyes, Charity could discern just how pale he was. His skin looked whiter than death. She reached forward hesitently with her hand and felt for a pulse at his jugular. For a few moments she was afraid he'd already passed on, until she noticed a very faint beat beneath her fingers. Charity pulled away, uncomfortable with his closeness. She turned to the others to find that they were already watching her.

"I'm going to need someone's help," She said. The older woman attempted to get up, but fell back with a grimace and a shaking of her limbs. Apparently being tied up for so long had done more damage to her joints than she thought.

The two boys looked at each other. Ronald had set his expressive face to a pleading look as he stared at his companion. The boy with the dark hair sighed, "Alright, I'll do it."

"Oh, thank you Harry!" Ronald said with obvious relief.

Harry came over to Charity and sat opposite her withthe man in between them. She noticed a look of hatred pass over his face as he glanced down at the man.

"If you'll just hold him up..." Charity said, directing the boy to lift the man forward, "no,no... tilt his head up a little more...that's it." Charity unstoppered the vial of clear liquid and parting his mouth with her free hand poured the liquid into to his throat a little at a time, so he wouldn't choke on it.

It seemed to take ages. By the time the vial was empty her arms were stiff from holding their position. She could only imagine what Harry's arms felt like. "Okay, I'm done." As Charity started to pull away she noticed that the man's hands were also tied.

"Hang on a second, let me just undo these ropes," She said. The boy groaned aloud but mantained the hold he had on the man.

Charity undid the knots as quickly as she could, trying to ignore just how long and agile the fingers of his hands looked. Charity tugged the last of the rope from the man's wrists and with Harry's help leaned him back against the wall.

She let out the breath of air she'd been holding, "What now?" She asked the woman.


	3. Chapter 3

"What now?" Charity asked.

"Harry, Ronald help me up." The woman barked at the two boys. They both scrambled to the professsors aid, each one lifting the woman to a standing position with a reverence that Charity found a liffle odd when compared to the way the boys bot reacted to helping her medicate the man.

Charity glanced at him as she thought, then did a quick double take. The color was already befinning to seep back into his face. For a split second Charity could have sworn there was a slight downturn to his mouth. The start of a frown, but it was gone now that Charity looked at the man again.

"I think, I still have a l ittle...ah...yes there it is."

Charity turned her attention back to the woman. She stood under her own steam with the aid of a cane Charity had never noticed before. Charity felt a stab of guilt at that. Joe really was out of hand. She hoped the woman wasn't too stiff from her captivity.

The woman pulled a small bag from inside the folds of her robe and opened it.

"Floo powder!" Ron yelled, "Oh, Professor Mcgonacall I could kiss you!"

The professor allowed a prim little smirk to grace her mouth. "My, my Mr. Weasly I daren't say you'll be so inclined when you learn just how much detention the two of you are going to recieve when we get back to Hogwarts."

Charity smiled at the downtrodden looks Ron and Harry's faces took on. They looked absolutely fearful.

"Hogwarts, huh, that's as good a name as any for a theatre school," She thought.

"Now, as to the fire," The professor named Mcgonacall said.

Charity watched her hobble over to the brick fireplace and poke at the rubble with her cane.

"This is going to need a little magic," Mcgonacall said.

Charity furrowed her eyebrows. "Did I just hear her say magic," She thought. "Okay it's time to get these people out of here."

"Hey, I don't think it's the time or place to be rehearsing some play or whatever this is. Joe is still outside and the condition he's in now he could come in here any moment and tie us all back up. You need to leave now!" Charity said, standing as she spoke.

The older woman turned to face Charity. She came forward slowly. Har cane hitting the wood with a reounding thump at each step.

Charity swallowed. She couldn't help but think this woman would be a formidable opponent with only the stern look on her wrinkled features.

"That is exactly what we are trying to do," she said shortly.

"Oh," Charity responded. The wind oozed from her sails and she suddenly felt like a recalcent student that had spoken out of turn.

"If you will please return our wands I will doso as promptly as possible."

"Huh, wands?" Charity frownde for a minute before she remembered the strange sticks in her pocket. Her hand flew there and pulled them out. She looked at them in the dim light, absently caressing the dark one she'd examined earlier. She was certain she felt a slight vibration come from it, almost like a shiver. Charity was surprised to fell herself shiver in return.

"I know this is all very confusing, but I can assure that if you give back our wands. We will leave and never return. Everything will go back to normal. It will be as if we were never here," Mcgonacall said.

Charity tore her gaze from the wands to look at the woman.


	4. Chapter four

Charity tore her gaze from the wands to look at the woman.

She seemed sincere, but Charity doubted she would ever forget their visitation. For a minute she toyed with the notion off keeping the wands and preventing them from leaving the farmhouse. She wanted to find out who they really were and why they came. She wanted to find out about the man in the dark cloak.

"This must be how Joe feels," she thought remembering the way he stalked off at her insistence that he let them go. Charity sighed, "You know the right thing to do," she thought further.

Charity started to hand the wands to Mcgonacall, but jumped at the sound of a vicious snarl from directly behind her. She screamed as someone unknown force slammed her to the ground.

"Professor Snape...No!"

"Severus.."

Charity heard the cries of the other three in the background and realized she was being attacked by the man who'd been unconscious, except he wasn't unconscious anymore.

"Get off me!" She screamed again and with much effort managed to roll over to face him.

He wasn't looking at her but was instead focusing on the wands she held in a death grip.

He features were cast in sharp relief due to the pale light coming from the kitchen. Anger...no rage contorted his lips into a snarl and his eyes were two black orbs slitted by his eyelids.

"Give it back!" He growled, reaching to pry he fingers loose from the wands.

"No!" Charity yelled. She grabbed one of his wrists with her free hand and held on.

"Professor...No, stop it!" Charity turned to Harry coming up behind the man. He grabbed a hold of the man's other arm..

"Shut up, Potter. He's not getting away with it," the man snarled, little flecks of spittle flinging from his mouth as he spoke.

"Sir," Ronald yelled. He came up on the man's other side and was pulling on his shoulder, "it's not Karkaroff. Get off of her."

The man stopped straining towards the wands in Charity's hand. He glanced down at Charity's face and for the first time their eyes met. She could have laughed at the absurd look on his face as he realized she was not the person he thought, if it weren't for the fact that he'd just attacked her.

His lips were still curled back in a snarl but his eyebrows had shot straight up and his eyes themselves were as wide around as quarters. The man's grip loosened from Charity's hand and in a split second she did the only thing that she could think of in retaliation.

She took advantage of his distraction and jabbed him in the neck with the ends of the wands as hard as she could.

He moved off of her in a hurry, gagging and choking. The two boys stood around him nervously. Ronald turned to Charity a now familiar look of fear on his face. "You probably shouldn't have done that," he said. Charity only frowned at him in response.

"Are you alright?" Mcgonacall said, hobbling over. She bent to inspect the both of them from behind her spectacles. Her face a mask of stern indecision.

"I bet she can't decide whether to be angry or worried," Charity thought. She sat up making sure she still had possession of the wands. "Yep," she thought," four intact wands."

"I'll...erg...mmm...live." The man managed to respond to Mcgonacall's question.

Mcgonacall frowned at the man. "As comforting as that is Severus. I'll ask you next time to look before you leap," Mcgonacall straightened, "I presume you thought you were attacking Karkaroff."

"So the mystery man has a name," Charity thought. She'd heard them yelling his name during the struggle but was unable to decipher it at the time. She wondered if his name implied anything of his character. If first impressions meant anything. Charity thought the name must fit him to a tee.

"Who on Earth is Karkaroff?" Charity blurted out.

Both Mcgonacall and Severus turned to Charity. The man's eyes narrowed as he looked up and down Charity's form, taking in her old jeans and flannel jacket. It sent shivers through her. Charity frowned at him, fighting the decidedly unfeminine urge to jab him again with the wands.

"Minerva, why haven't you obliviated this muggle?" He asked softly, suddenly recovering enough to speak normally. His voice sounding like the velvety hiss of a snake to Charity.

Sorry these last two chapters have been so short. I'm just starting school so my updates might take longer. Also here's an advance apology to everyone who likes Joe, you're not going to like me after I upload chapter five.


	5. Chapter five

His voice sounding like the velvetly hiss of a snake to Charity.

"Obliciate? First, you attack me, now you're going...sobliviate me? I'm trying to help you," Charity yelled.

"Of course not, Professor Snape is obviously still confused." Mcgonacall said hurriedly, holding her hands out palms up in a placating manner.

"The word is obliviate," Snape said once more in his infuriatingly soft voice. Charity noticed him eyeing the wands she held clenched in her palm. She put them tightly to her chest, half afraid the man would make another lunge for her.

"Now...the professor's bark is much worse that his bite-" Mcgonacall stopped, she looked unsure of her own words.

Professor Snape arched one thin black eyebrow at Mcgonacall, as if to question her. She frowned, then schooled her features into a stern face. "Well, at the very least he is awake now and the sooner you return our wands the sooner we will leave," Mcgoncall said, clasping her hands together.

Charity scowled at the woman, her attempted mission of mercy was not going so well. She almost wished Joe would come back in. At least then she'd have an ally.

"Please Miss...er, Charity. We just want to get back," Ron whispered. He still had that desperate look on his face, even his freckles were sweating.

Charity sighed, "Alright, but he's not getting his back," she gestured towards Snape. The way his eyes bulged in horror at her words gave Charity a small thrill of pleasure.

"That is entirely unacceptable! This muggle cannot hold my wand hostage," he said to Mcgonacall, pointing a long finger at Charity.

"As far as I'm concerned Professor she can keep it until we're all through the fire," Mcgonacall said shortly.

Charity heard a distinct snicker come from one of the two boys and Snape snapped his head up at the one called Harry. He looked about to attack the boy with some scathing remark but McGonacall interrupted.

"Now, if you would please return my wand!" McGonacall thrust her open palm towards Charity.

Charity pursed her lips but slowly fanned the wands out and held them up. "I don't know which is-" McGonacall plucked an elegant looking wand from Charity's hands and with out a word she turned and hobbled away.

The two boys came over and each took their wands from Charity. She was left holding the black wand she'd been admiring earlier. "I had a feeling this one was going to be his," She thought ruely. The professor stood up from his place on the ground and glided towards her. His black cloak was shrouded in a layer of dustbunnies and dog hair, but he managed to emanate a feeling of detached coolness.

"You won't be keeping that for very long," he whispered before moving off to convene with Mcgonacall. Charity ignored the slight shiver that ran through her and clenched the wand even tighter. "That's what you think, buddy." She thought.

There was a flash of brillant light and the room was cast in the flickering shadows of a fire. Charity turned in time to see Mcgonacall throw some powder into the fire and gaped as it turned purple and stayed that way.

"How..how did you-" Charity faltered when first one of the boys and then the other dissapeared into the flames. Charity ran over to the flames certain that they were being burnt alive, but there was no one inside the violent purple light. She reached her hand out to feel the heat coming from the flames and reassure herself that it was indeed a real fire. Snape grabbed her and pulled her back though. Charity watched him wag his finger slowly and shake his head no.

"Well, I'll see you on the other side professor," Mcgonacall said, casting a funny glance at Charity. She yelled something and stepped right into the fire, disappearing.

Charity just gaped at the man as he stared down at her. She tried to move away but he still had her arm in his grip. He reached his other hand towards her neck and she nearly fainted in fear. His hand clamped over the wand in hers and she realized he was taking his wand back. She had it held closely to her chest.

"This is mine," he said softly, before letting go of her. Charity fell backwards onto the floor. She watched him examine the wand carefully for a few seconds. He smirked grimly then pointing the wand at her, " I do thank you for letting all of us go, but I am afraid, muggle, that you must not be allowed to recount any of this. Obliv-"

Charity screamed as a blast of green light shattered the living room window, knocking Snape of his feet. There was another blast and Joe came flying through the broken glass. He landed with a thump in front of Charity. He was dead. She started screaming and couldn't stop. The sight of her crazy friend lying lifeless at Charity's feet was the last straw in a series of straws. She became aware of two figures standing outside the window, each with a wand pointing at her. She closed her eyes, still screaming, knowing that she was going to die. An explosion of sound made Charity open her eyes and she saw the two men fly backwards. Someone was yanking on her, telling her to get up. She looked up at the crooked nose of the Professor and numbly started to move. He grabbed her by the shoulders and with amazing strength lifted her physically to her feet. He dragged her to the purple fire and muttering something fell into it pulling her with him.

Everything was a whirlwind of dizzying color. Charity felt weightless and heavy at the same time. There was a string tied to her waist yanking on her, pulling her forward with amazing speed. She could feel the professor's body next to hers, holding onto her. It was almost comforting.

Then she hit her head on a cold floor. Gravity was back, and it was asserting itself in a very unpleasing manner. Before she could get her bearings the professor rolled away from her and yelled "Aqueous!" She turned her head to see him putting the fire out in the fireplace with a jet of water that gushed from his wand.

She moved into a squatting position on the floor careful to go slow because her head was beginning to hurt intensly. There were others in the room. Harry and Ron, Professor Mcgonacall and some others she didn't recognize.

"Professor Snape, what on Earth happened?" Mcgonacall asked.


End file.
